"... Rather than being able to claim credit for the increasing movement in
Europe and elsewhere to boycott settlements and the occupation, some of
the most vocal pro-Palestinian “BDS advocates” actually undermine them
by confusing the purpose of such boycotts and allowing Israelis to both
argue and, perhaps, believe, that this is a generalised attack against
the legitimacy of their state rather than the illegitimacy of the
occupation.

The greatest challenge facing the Palestinian national movement,
particularly after the last Israeli election in which the existence of
the occupation was blithely ignored, is how to bring home the reality of
the conflict to Israel’s mainstream majority that lives far from the
occupied territories. The developing anti-settlement, but not
anti-Israel, boycott movement is one of the first glimmers of real hope
about how this can be done in a cost-effective, nonviolent and
non-counterproductive manner.

There is no question that Palestinians are onto a very good thing
here, if they handle it right. And the Israelis clearly have a problem,
as acknowledged by all of their sensible leaders. But, ironically, the
biggest threat to this sudden and significant piece of leverage is the
strident BDS rhetoric that makes pro-peace actions against settlements
that are based squarely in international law look like anti-Israel
initiatives that don’t square with the goals of either peace or a
two-state solution.

If the rhetoric of strident BDS activists can be brought into line
with the reality of anti-settlement boycotts, Palestinians could well
acquire a significant and desperately needed new tool of leverage with
Israel. If not, while demagogues may not be able to stop the growing
international anti-settlement sentiment, they can certainly continue to
provide apologists for the occupation with vital rhetorical ammunition
for counterattack, and space for conflation and confusion, that they
would and should otherwise be denied." Hussein Ibish Harmful rhetoric can break the momentum of boycott effortsFebruary 8, 2014